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Chapman Chile Kitchen in Dallas: “On Hiatus”

Posted on February 8th, 2010 9:32am by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Closings, Neighborhood restaurants, Restaurant News
The Chapman's of Chapman's Chile Kitchen.

The Chapmans of Chapman Chile Kitchen.

I spent the weekend making my way through a couple of quarts of spicy chili I bought from Fran Chapman at the Dallas Farmers Market. This morning I planned to replenish my freezer and pulled up the website for Chapman Chile Kitchen. The hours of operation have been crossed out and the following notice appears on the home page. I left a message and will wait for details. Sad news for chili lovers.

Hiatus. We have come to the realization that Fran needs to delegate more of the day-to-day kitchen operations. She has spent the last year chopping onions, stuffing jalapenos and grinding toasted peppers while attempting to hold together a house with four young children. The problem is that even with our loyal customer base, the space we currently occupy just cannot generate the kind of income needed to employ extra help. Our much-ballyhooed expansion seems to be on infinite hold as the owner of the building cannot decide if he should stay or go. We thought the return of the beer and wine license to the ghetto convenience store would herald an acceleration of the renovation but this has not been the case.

It is with light-hearted irreverence that we announce our hiatus from Chapman Chile. That’s right; we’re taking a break. The simple truth is the Kitchen never made much money and frankly we are tired of subsidizing the endeavor. We know the problem – no seating and short hours. Without money we can not rectify those shortcomings.

Fran and I would like to sincerely thank everyone – even the person who told us buffalo were extinct. This has been an amazing experience. Lessons learned and contacts made will occupy the coming months as we formulate the next step; we are not done. Hopefully we will be back soon with a new space, the money and menu to give this a real go (if you have money let’s talk!).

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep what business plans may come?

Call 214-887-8872 to get your chile and chili fix while you still can.

11 comments

  1. Dang. I’ll have to see if they are at the Farmers Market this weekend so I can stash some in my freezer. It’s delicious stuff.

    @ 10:00 am on February 8, 2010

  2. Wow. That’s now three closing from D’s Best Restaurants 2009 list. Poor Chapman. Those stuffed jalapenos were fantastic. Folks, get out there and support your local restaurants. Lets keep the good ones open.

    @ 10:06 am on February 8, 2010

  3. The market has spoken. It wasn’t that good. No need for additional posts.

    @ 11:10 am on February 8, 2010

  4. too bad, I wish I’d had better timing and more freezer space to stash some. Hope they can re-open or at least do a couple more visits to the farmer’s market.

    @ 11:18 am on February 8, 2010

  5. A rare hidden Dallas gem is gone. This would never of happened in NYC, Seattle or San Francisco. Cities where “hidden gems” like Chapman’s are truly appreciated.
    Wake up, Dallas!

    @ 12:04 pm on February 8, 2010

  6. Twin if you read the post, the issue isn’t that it wasn’t appreciated, rather that they didn’t have a good location. Waking up Dallas isn’t the answer.

    @ 12:07 pm on February 8, 2010

  7. So restaurants never close in NYC or San Fran? They must eat out a lot more than we do to keep them all running even as new ones come around.

    @ 3:29 pm on February 8, 2010

  8. Sweet family. Great chili. Crappy location in the hood. I never did get the location, across from the school.

    I know Paula Lambert sat at the Farmers Market for a good long time selling cheese out of her ice chests before upgrading. Just saying…

    @ 4:01 pm on February 8, 2010

  9. Please, before you’re all so eager to jump down my throat, let me try to clarify my comments.
    Little “hole in the wall” establishments in those other (more cosmopolitan) cities thrive because they’re very busy and enjoy cheaper rent than the “big boys”. But, Dallas is a demographically fragmented city and people living in say, Plano are not going to come down to East Dallas just to buy home made chili. But, if MORE people in Dallas knew about and patronized Chapman’s, then maybe we wouldn’t be lamenting their closing. I love their chili and sincerely hope they’ll open again, soon.
    And don’t get me wrong about Dallas. I love Dallas. I’ve lived here since 1963 and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the USA!

    @ 4:13 pm on February 8, 2010

  10. I don’t think the location is necessarily bad; the three or four mile radius is all neighborhoods, which translates as potential customers. I live in Little Forest Hills and gladly drove the distance to eat there. For me, it was their limited hours and no indoor seating. There were many times I would have had dinner there but . . . I was eating there one day when the landlord came by and dropped off sheetrock to begin renovating the space next door and I was estatic to think that the drawbacks would soon be corrected. I can only hope this is truly just a hiatus until a new location is found.

    @ 9:25 am on February 9, 2010

  11. Great Chile, my problem was I found it too late. Got two bowls on consecutive days when I found out on the first day they would be closing. Need to get them in the SMU area or another high foot traffic spot but need cheap rent.

    @ 12:32 pm on February 9, 2010